Several friends had said Corcovado National Park was a must see, but since an injury kept us from backpacking, we stayed here. We were very pleased with the
friends we made, the excellent location, very yummy food and
opportunities. The lodge isn't a resort, so yes, there might be a few
bugs and the room wasn't brand new, but other things made up for it.
Carlos (the owner) was an amazing guide: a wonderful guided hike, a day horseback riding with lunch on the beach, and a guided night hike. We also did a day by ourselves hiking and swiming, and finally a snorkeling day to Cano Island with a local outfitter.

The food was very good, always with fresh fruit and juice- we especially enjoyed the day we had juice from two organic giant starfruit that Carlos picked for us on the way
home. A tip: get the meal package- even for "do-it-yourselfers" it was worth having the meal plan. Other highlights included Carlos using a machete to chop open fresh coconuts and cocoa beans for us to try, taking a trip to a private beach (one other person came up in a kayak) with monkeys and coconuts all around. Carlos taking the time every night to show us by flashlight the local kinkachoo in the trees. Friendliness of other staff, esp Jessica the cook and Juan the handyman. We were upgraded from the basic room to the bungalo at no extra charge.

Though it wasn't "cheap", in retrospect I felt like the prices were fair, and considering the poverty all around there, fair was good enough. Getting there is a challenge but worth it: the taxi rides from Palmar Norte to Sierpe (where you get the boat to Bahia Drake) is a rip off, though this is true no matter where you are staying and shouldn't reflect on Corcovado Lodge. The taxi drivers know they have you in a bind, but what can you do? We thought the boat ride from Sierpe to Drake bay was great fun- a mix of tourists and locals, with baggage such as chicks in a box, a well wrapped TV, a banana tree sapling (we never did figure that one out). Once we were to Drake Bay, Carlos picked us up, and all our transportation from there out were included in our fees for daily activities.

Corcovado Lodge seems to have mixed reviews- with some people giving it 5 stars and other 1. I think some of the complaints are likely legit: 1. A few of the comments mentioned isolation/transportation issues- legit because the lodge is out of town and there is no public transportation. That is a trade off that we were willing to make. One day we walked into town and the beach as a full day trip, yes it is a long walk that most people wouldn't be willing to do, but for us it was a day adventure. Other times we had Carlos arrange transportation. 2. I think the other legit complaint was about Carlos being "flaky"; one day we had a pickup from town that was 1.5 hours later than we had arranged. We also had a screw up with our bus tickets (that Carlos had said would arrange) which cost us about $20 but I didn't let that ruin an otherwise great trip. Part of this I think is CR and the lifestyle down there- its hard I think for Americans (ourselves included) to just go with the flow; "the bus will come when it comes" still is how much of transportation outside of N.America and Europe works. 3. Cash only. Carlos explained we would either have to pay in advance with Pay Pal or cash when we got there. Once we got to the lodge it made sense- I think they are the last place (on the one road out of town- dirt of course) that had electricity. I suspect a hard adjustment again for many Americans to not whip out the credit card for everything!

Some complaints I don't think were legit: 1. This is NOT a luxury resort. It was never presented to us as such, but part of the problems I'm sure is expectations. It is a cool place to be have access to an amazing ecosystem. We had clean sheets, running water, clean towels. yes there were bugs, we were in the middle of the jungle. I thought the photos on their website were accurate, but I've also attached a few. 2. People complained about being charged for transportation from Drake Bay to the lodge. But this is clearly stated on their website. Once you get down there and realize how few public services (buses/taxis etc) there are it makes sense.

To give you a frame of reference we are two Americans who normally try to be on a moderate budget, usually camping and "do-it-yourself" adventures. But I was really glad to not be camping in this area, and for the first time ever hiking was actually glad to have a guide (Carlos)- we could not have easily found our way around the jungle- plus Carlos took the time to show us many birds, cool plants etc. We saw lots of wildlife including closeup white face monkeys. We got away from more of the "tourist" trap lodges that are right in Drakes Bay; once we got there I was glad to be staying out of town. We were willing to make the trade off of no access to nightlife in exchange for hanging out in the open air dining room at night practicing my Spanish with Juan, drink cheap beer, playing cards, or listening for night creatures.

In summary: a great place to stay if you want to be off the beaten track but still have a flush toilet, a fun adventure for folks willing to be a little flexible.

We stayed at this location for 9days and enjoyed every minute of it. The owners Marna & Carlos are very accommodating. The staff are so very friendly and are there for you when ever you may need them. The food was so good, we were there 9 days and did not have the same dinner twice. We were able to kayak, canoeing, snorkling, waterfall hike, horseback riding and even the canopy tour and I can't tell you which we liked the best, they were all so memorable. While we were there we met people from Thanks to Marna and her staff, we hope to go back.

So, let me start with the good: The cutest puppy ever lives at this lodge (CocoLoco). The old man and his daughter who cook, clean, talk to the guests, show the guests how to open a coconut (the boyfriend was stoked), make sure everyone has everything they need- these two were the only this that made the stay not-a-total-let down. Jessica the daughter was so sweet and a magician in the kitchen, the food was very good. I wish I could remember his name, but her father, the older gentlemen was precious, he hugged guests as they returned from tours in the evenings, he made a genuine effort to engage with everyone, he even did a card trick for my boyfriend and I. His english consisted of only a few words and I'm sure most of my american-accented spanish was lost on him- but this made the experience all the better.

On the other hand, Carlos, the person in charge of the more crucial elements of the lodge: transportation to and from the lodge, times and pickups for the tours, if the tours you paid for even happen, etc- was incredibly disorganized and it was impossible to get direct answers out of him as to what exactly was going on. We had paid for a package that was to include an overnight stay deep in the Corcovado Jungle. So after waiting several hours for a pick up that was supposed to come to the other lodge we had stayed at, and being told we were going on a boat tour, and not going on a boat tour- we were stoked when Carlos stated firmly that our overnight stay was all set. We got up at 6am, were ready by said pickup time 7am, and then waited until 8:30am for Carlos to come back to the lodge. At this point we were driven to a ranger station with Martin the guide (who was nice, but a little dull to be honest), started by foot into the jungle only to be stopped by someone about an hour in. This someone informed Martin that the house at which our camping gear was stationed was vacant and thus, we would be returning to the lodge- not camping in the jungle.

Martin did take us on a nice trek for a few hours before sending us back. Carlos apologized that evening. Accepted. But honestly if it had been one mishap I would have understood, but after chatting with the other guests, consensus was that it was a coin toss whether or not Carlos was going to come through. Marna was really nice and seemed much more organized, but she was in Canada. All around, not terrible, just not what we expected.

My boyfriend and I really enjoyed our stay at the Eco-Lodge last week. It was an amazing experience. Carlos was so knowledgeable about the area, its plants and wildlife, and and Bella took such good care of us. Definitely request a mosquito net unless you want the real "jungle" experience. Beautiful location w/tons of animals everywhere. Macaws flew around our head and we got to see a kinkajou steal fruit out of the kitchen! We went hiking in Corcovado and snorkeling at Cano Island. Definitely make the trip down to Corcovado and check out the Corcovado Jungle Eco-Lodge.